Author Topic: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015  (Read 8100 times)

Millet

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Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« on: December 16, 2014, 10:06:10 PM »
If your growing a citrus tree inside a greenhouse, a mature citrus tree should begin flowering around the middle of January to the beginning of February.  Outdoor citrus trees begin to flower in March.  If you want to insure a good flowering now is the time to spray the tree with a foliar application of low biuret Urea, or potassium nitrate.  Urea is the better choice.  Doing so will increase the intensity of flowering and help with the retention of the developing fruit.   When  foliar spraying a tree use the purest water that you have available.  If your water supply is chlorinated let it set for 24 hours so the chlorine will evaporate out.  One teaspoon of a good surfactant per gallon of spray also helps coat the leaf.  Be sure to get both the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Do not spray during the heat of the day. - Millet
« Last Edit: December 17, 2014, 09:48:47 PM by Millet »

luak

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2014, 12:48:07 PM »
Millet, thanks for the info. I have 4 tree's that are flowering starting a few weeks ago,3 Meyers and one Page.These have more than normal bloom. I have sprayed them with giberlic spray and i was just wondering if i have to continue spraying till all the flowers are spent. All my tree's are in my workshop under t8 lights with temps 71*. Spray was a bottle i got from you.

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2014, 09:51:19 PM »
You can spray one more time at around 3/4 full bloom - Millet

brian

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2014, 03:56:45 PM »
For urea spray, is it too late once you can visibly differentiate flower buds and leaf growth? 

I have some that are just have swollen bud 'dots'...


...and others with clear flower buds and leaves

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2014, 06:40:41 PM »
Brian for your flowering tree it is too late to promote greater flowering.. - Millet

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2014, 10:40:41 PM »
When foliar spraying a tree the most efficient in leaf absorption are apolar molecules (i.a. urea).  Behind apolar molecules with somewhat less efficiency are cations (NH4, K, Ca, Mg Fe Mn Cu, Zn).  The lest efficient are the anion forms (NO3, H2PO4, SO4,B4O7, MoO4, BO3). The efficiency of nutrient absorption is also dependent on the contact angle of liquid drop on the leaves and stem epidermis surface. The flatter the angle and the more thorough the coating of epidermis by droplets of solution, the better translocation of dissolved nutrients into plant cell is observed. The value of the angle can be successfully decreased by the application of surfactants which reduce surface tension of liquid droplets. - Millet

bangkok

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2014, 07:02:57 AM »
Millet i guess this info is for american growers right?

My citrus are all bearing fruit and one is blooming nonstop.

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2014, 10:05:36 AM »
bangkok, your tree blooms all the time because you live in a tropical location. This not the case with trees growing in temperate climates.   In the world's temperate climates the period of colder temperatures assists with the tree's fruiting, therefore  a citrus tree mainly blooms in the spring and the fruit is mature in the fall. - Millet

Bush2Beach

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2014, 05:17:45 PM »
If your growing a citrus tree inside a greenhouse, a mature citrus tree should begin flowering around the middle of January to the beginning of February.  Outdoor citrus trees begin to flower in March.  If you want to insure a good flowering now is the time to spray the tree with a foliar application of low biuret Urea, or potassium nitrate.  Urea is the better choice.  Doing so will increase the intensity of flowering and help with the retention of the developing fruit.   When  foliar spraying a tree use the purest water that you have available.  If your water supply is chlorinated let it set for 24 hours so the chlorine will evaporate out.  One teaspoon of a good surfactant per gallon of spray also helps coat the leaf.  Be sure to get both the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Do not spray during the heat of the day. - Millet

Millet,
I am having a somewhat different experience than what you are saying. I think it is weather related as I have multiple outdoor citrus in bloom at the moment or just set fruit from bloom.
I have a Calomondin in 15 Gallon that blooms and has fruit almost year round and though some of my plants suggest otherwise , I am far from tropical. I expect this is weather related too as it has been a mild winter thus far and my micro climate and plant location helps.
 A lot of Citrus varieties actually ripen here from November through spring . The only citrus I can recall harvesting in fall is Finger Lime with the exception of fruit left ripe on the tree for months to slowly harvest.
My Vaniglia Sanguigno ( acid less blood orange) is coloring up and this is a top5 favorite citrus for me.
Though not true to type , I'll send seeds to any interested forum members as they're ready. I have no idea how available/desirable this variety is or if it's worth trying from seed. Any variation of acid less citrus I think I'd like, so I have some seedlings going too.

Galka

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2014, 11:51:27 PM »
Bush2Beach, could you post the picture of your blood orange and finger lime.
My pink variegated lemon flowers all year around. Navels started to shoot new leaves and could be flowering too. Sanguigno blood orange got some flowers coming up. It is small tree, so I should probably take any fruits (if there will be any) off to let the tree grow. But anyway I would like to see how it looks mature with fruits.

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #10 on: December 24, 2014, 01:33:42 PM »
Lemons and limes can flower year around, even in temperate climates, but the main crop is still in the springs. - Millet

Bush2Beach

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #11 on: December 25, 2014, 03:15:02 AM »
Lemons and limes can flower year around, even in temperate climates, but the main crop is still in the springs. - Millet

True. Do you mean main crop or main bloom is in spring? I'm confused, This appears to contradict your above post that fruit is mainly ripe in fall. Give thanks.

Galka,
 I'll post some pictures ASAP.

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #12 on: December 25, 2014, 01:59:20 PM »
Bush2Beach, I need to post more cautiously.  I meant the main flowering of lemons and limes is in the spring of the year. - Millet

Mark in Texas

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2014, 08:41:24 AM »
Bush2Beach, I need to post more cautiously.  I meant the main flowering of lemons and limes is in the spring of the year. - Millet

I just finished a huge crop of Mex limes in a 20 gal. pot.  Been picking them for months.

Curious, why N now Millet considering K is applied to induce blooming and bloom set, especially for mangos. I just hit my mangos with a high K food - pot nitrate, Dyna-Gro Bloom, DG ProTekt....rainwater, NIS surfactant.  Actually this high K food was recommended to be applied in November by Jim of Pine Island.  I'm always late to the party it seems.  :-[

Also, my best citrus whether in Corpus or here in my greenhouse is always 16  months post bloom, or late winter the following year.  Screws up my blooming cycle though.  Exception was Orlando tangelo, best by early winter.



Only pure ammonical N source I have is UAN.  I doubt if it's low biuret since it's ag grade (feed store). 

« Last Edit: December 27, 2014, 08:53:34 AM by Mark in Texas »

bangkok

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2014, 08:58:34 AM »
bangkok, your tree blooms all the time because you live in a tropical location. This not the case with trees growing in temperate climates.   In the world's temperate climates the period of colder temperatures assists with the tree's fruiting, therefore  a citrus tree mainly blooms in the spring and the fruit is mature in the fall. - Millet

Millet i asked it because when i was totally green in growing tropical fruit i read many websites and believed all info written. Later i found out that Americans tend to write for the American climate/soil/water and so on. There will be more new growers reading that info and i hope they understand that it's only for the USA.

My Pomelo bloomed in Oktober this year which is in the rainy season. It might have bloomed because i fertilized it then. The colder period for Thailand is right now and it doesn't bloom again but still has some fruit ripening.

The big pomelotree from my MIL blooms all year and also bears fruit all year.

Mark in Texas

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2014, 09:23:30 AM »
Curious, what do you call "cold" in Thailand?  Temps?  Also, what's the latitude and elevation where you're at?

Thanks

bangkok

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #16 on: December 27, 2014, 10:09:44 AM »
Curious, what do you call "cold" in Thailand?  Temps?  Also, what's the latitude and elevation where you're at?

Thanks

This week we had a cold night, it was 20 degree's celcius. The guards all wear jackets, the dogs wear tshirts, people wear socks and shoes, barely no mosquito's, spoiled dogs have a heatlamp to sleep under, my wife started looking for a bodywarmer in the shops.

But that's for Bangkok, more north it can be colder and in the mountains it was around freezingpoint at the coldest summit.

Bangkok is under sealevel, at full moon the river flows backwards. Don't know the lattitude. Right now it's raining but it was dry for 2-3 weeks. It might stay totally dry for another 4-5 months.

Last year the coldest night was around 12-15 celcius in Bangkok but that was only 1 or 2 nights. Daytime is always 27-33, also tomorrow will be 32 again.

http://weather.thaivisa.com/nonthaburi/

Mark in Texas

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #17 on: December 27, 2014, 10:45:50 AM »
Thanks. Interesting......

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #18 on: December 27, 2014, 11:19:51 AM »
Mark in Texas, I don't know anything about Mangoes.  However, for citrus it has long been known that a foliar spray of urea or a source of nitrogen two months prior to the expected bloom date enhances the tree's bloom. - Millet

Mark in Texas

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #19 on: December 27, 2014, 11:43:09 AM »
Mark in Texas, I don't know anything about Mangoes.  However, for citrus it has long been known that a foliar spray of urea or a source of nitrogen two months prior to the expected bloom date enhances the tree's bloom. - Millet

I'll take your word for it and give them a shot today although it goes against all plant nutrition conventions - N promotes foliage.  I give my citrus a slow release 18-4-9 all year long.  They're not lacking in N.



BTW, got any resources on this N thingie I could read?

Edit - seems like opinions are all over the place......

http://articles.latimes.com/1999/feb/06/home/hm-5320

"One word of caution: Over-fertilizing, particularly with nitrogen, can cause an excess of green growth at the expense of fruit production. "
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/treat-lemon-tree-not-bear-fruit-62649.html

Being that most Texas soils contain 13 essential elements, the one most deficient is N.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/fact-sheets/citrus/

My potting soil needs them all.

Thanks,
Mark
« Last Edit: December 27, 2014, 11:53:46 AM by Mark in Texas »

Bush2Beach

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #20 on: December 27, 2014, 01:14:35 PM »
Bush2Beach, could you post the picture of your blood orange and finger lime.
My pink variegated lemon flowers all year around. Navels started to shoot new leaves and could be flowering too. Sanguigno blood orange got some flowers coming up. It is small tree, so I should probably take any fruits (if there will be any) off to let the tree grow. But anyway I would like to see how it looks mature with fruits.

Galka, I love the pink variegated lemon, it is a year round producer!

Vaniglia Sanguigno on the right ,   Moro Blood Orange on the left
Every Vaniglia has Vanilla flavor :o and then there's zero acid   :o  :o
Some people don't like that though




Vaniglia Sangiugno



Moro Blood Orange   ( with Volunteer Cherimoyas grafted with Licia  :) )





Finger Lime Bloom on Christmas day



Finger Lime stretching for the sun ( next to Bass's " Grenada" Papaya)





Page Mandarins ( Bottom of the fruit towards the sky )




« Last Edit: December 27, 2014, 02:25:51 PM by Millet »

Galka

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #21 on: December 28, 2014, 08:45:02 AM »
Bush2Beach, thanks for the pictures. My Finger lime haven't flowered yet. Can't wait when it happens. Did you get any fruits?

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #22 on: December 28, 2014, 10:06:31 PM »
What about biuret in Urea fertilizers

When present in elevated concentrations, biuret interferes
with normal protein synthesis and internal N metabolism
in the plant. Lower N concentrations are typically found in
biuret-damaged leaves than in healthy urea-treated leaves.
Biuret also disrupts normal activity of many important plant
enzymes…increasing some enzymes and decreasing others…
compared with healthy leaves.
Although biuret in urea can be damaging to plants when
present in high concentrations, modern manufacturing processes
have greatly reduced the severity of this problem.
Early urea fertilizer manufacturing facilities often produced
urea containing more than 5% biuret. Foliar application of
urea solutions containing 1% biuret is acceptable for many
common agronomic crops. However, for foliar fertilization of
some sensitive crops, urea with especially low concentrations of
biuret (less than 0.3 % biuret) may be required. If the sensitivity
of a specific crop to biuret in foliar sprays is not known, it
is advisable to start with low-biuret urea until the sensitivity
has been determined.
The modern N fertilizer industry produces urea that is
remarkably safe, consistent, and effective for enhancing plant
growth. Urea has many properties that make it the most commonly
used N fertilizer in the world. Biuret toxicity problems
are generally rare, but special attention should be made for
fertilization of especially sensitive crops.
illet

Mark in Texas

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #23 on: December 28, 2014, 10:23:01 PM »
Got a brand and source?

Hit my faves with UAN and KNO3 with a touch of Keyplex today.  We'll see.

Millet

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Re: Citrus Tree Flowering 2015
« Reply #24 on: December 28, 2014, 10:26:51 PM »
You should be able to find Urea at almost every place that sells fertilizer.  Urea is the world most used nitrogen fertilizer. - Millet